See, Touch and Smell the GreenEarth Difference
Professional History:
The third generation of the Bancroft Family to enter the Dry Cleaning business bearing the Bancroft family name with his son, Nicholas, now the Managing Director and representing the fourth generation to enter the Bancroft Dry Cleaning business.
Pioneered the introduction of point of sale Dry Cleaning Computer Systems into Australia and South East Asia in 1989.
Appointed a Justice Of The Peace by the State Government of Victoria in 1983.Still serving in that capacity.
Professional Affiliations, Awards & Honors:
Elected as the Victorian State Executive of The Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia in 1968. Retired 2002.
Recipient of the Dry Cleaning Industry ” Overseas Study Award "in 1971
Elected President of The International Drycleaners Congress in 1973
Awarded an “ Honorary Life Membership “ by The Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia –National Body – October 2003.
Roger brings the vision and leadership to GreenEarth Australasia and generously shares his wealth of knowledge with drycleaners throughout the country.
Russell is well known in the industry which he joined in 1994 when he took up the role of Chief Executive of Lawrence Drycleaners – then Australia’s largest chain.
In late 1996 he left Lawrence but stayed in the industry starting Hangout Laundry Drycleaning which grew to six stores recognized for their distinctive branding and promotion.
Russell still owns two stores on Sydney’s north shore which he plans to progressively convert to GreenEarth. The other Hangout stores are now in the hands of independent franchise licencees.
He is a past President of DIA(NSW) and has recently retired from the DIA National Council where he was a director for 8 years.
“I believe GreenEarth is the future for drycleaning in Australia” Russell said.
“I can’t see why anyone would invest in perc when it comes to replacing machines as before the end of the new one’s life perc is probably going to be a liability in this country. So there’s really only hydrocarbon or GreenEarth and for me, GreenEarth is my choice for a better future."
“I’ve seen what a good job Green Earth does and how happy its users are. I think it offers opportunities for forward thinking drycleaners - so when Roger Bancroft and Deborah Rechnitz approached me to join the GE team it wasn’t a hard decision.
Russell sees Green Earth as a huge co-branding opportunity for the local drycleaner with a good reputation. Cleaners can promote its obvious environmental benefits and fresh cleaning style to complement their own brand identity. “A lot of my focus with GE will be in maximizing the branding potential for users” he said.
Karl Chehade has 25 years experience in the drycleaning industry as the Managing Director of Karl Chehade Drycleaning, one of Australia’s largest drycleaning enterprises.
Karl has also served the Industry body as an executive Director and State president for over 12 years.
A winner of the 'Australian Drycleaner of the Year'.
Holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Adelaide University).
Karl provides his operational expertise to GreenEarth affiliates and shares his extensive knowledge of the process with all those involved.
Deborah Rechnitz has been an independent management consultant to dry cleaning industry members since 1980. She also held the position of Chief Operating Officer of one of the largest USA dry cleaning operations in 2008. She is an internationally recognized speaker with engagements including the International Fabricare Institute, the International Drycleaners Congress, the Japanese Fabricare Research Association, and the Drycleaners Institute of Australia.
Deborah holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Personnel Administration; a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interpersonal Communications, and an MBA in Operations Management (Case Western Reserve University, USA).
She is past president of the Cleaners and Launders Association Executives and Northwest Regional Vice President of the International Drycleaners Congress.
Deborah's experience in assisting drycleaners throughout the world is now available to GreenEarth affiliates.
The master licensor for GreenEarth is the GreenEarth Cleaning Company, located in the United States.
Jim Barry
In 1982, he acquired ten drycleaning stores and founded Pride Cleaners in the Kansas City area. Pride Cleaners grew to 50 locations within five years. In 1987 the company was recognized by Inc. Magazine on the "Inc. 500 America's Fastest Growing Private Companies."
In 1987, Pride Cleaners was sold to Johnson Group Cleaners PLC, the largest drycleaning company in the United Kingdom. Jim stayed with the company in the capacity of President of Pride Cleaners and was appointed to the Board of Directors for the parent company in the U.K. in 1991. In 1994, he was named the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Johnson Group's U.S. operations, which encompassed approximately 360 company-owned stores and 175 franchise locations. In early 1999, the Johnson Group's U.S. operations were sold to Delia's Cleaners and Jim assumed the role of Chairman of the new entity, which encompassed 380 locations. Jim retired from Delia's Cleaners in 2001 so that he could devote more time to GreenEarth Cleaning.
Ron Benjamin
Ron Benjamin began his career as an entrepreneur in 1971. Since that time, he has started or purchased seven different businesses in the Midwest. These businesses have been wide-ranging, including blood plasma recycling, drycleaning, electronic banking, franchised yogurt shops, retail drug stores, and potato repackaging.
Ron and a partner started a current holding, Resource & Development Group, in 1985. R&D provides direct marketing and fundraising services to large national nonprofit and commercial organizations. It is one of the Salvation Army's largest mailers in the country and does all of the response mailings for Applebee's Restaurants both in the United States and internationally.
Jim Douglas
Jim Douglas began his drycleaning career with Swanson's Cleaners located in Sacramento, California, in 1969. He was co-owner and served as president of the company from 1988 to 1998.
Swanson's was the largest drycleaning plant in the United States, serving as many as 115 locations from a single central plant of 115,000 square feet. It was primarily a Stoddard solvent plant until the underground tanks were removed in 1990. In anticipation of the removal of the Stoddard solvent, Jim worked and processed with all available alternative solvents and cleaning methods, including DuPont's Valclene and Dow Chemical's Dow LS. In addition, the central plant was the test site plant for Exxon's DF-2000.
Jim's plant, Prestige Cleaners, located in Sacramento, has served as the alpha and beta test site for the GreenEarth Cleaning process. Jim is the Technical Director and serves as Vice President and Chief Officer of Intellectual Properties for GreenEarth Cleaning. GreenEarth Cleaning is partnered with General Electric and Procter & Gamble to bring silicone cleaning to the drycleaning industry.
